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Info Absolution (Summary - List of stories) . The Innocent Dove << previous act | Act 1 of 4 | next act >> Epidemic << previous chapter | Chapter 4 of 39 '''| next chapter >> << previous scene | '''Scene 2 of 2 | next scene >> Summary * Location: *Participants: *Time: *Summary: Text By midnight, they had managed to get most ponies back to their homes: many were groggy and complaining still, but a few were already healthy enough to pick themselves up and go. But there were several ponies on the other end of the spectrum as well, who had to be moved to the hospital or clinic for further care: ponies whom the rampaging plague had already damaged the organs of, or caused some other nasty medical malady they had to be closely monitored. Antares felt strangely muted, even now: the hospital was out of quarantine, the plague was being handled in Canterlot and had been diluted here in Ponyville... but all the same, he couldn't shake the feeling that this was nothing more than a hint of what the future held for them. He sighed a little as he looked back and forth throughout the library's main room, armor discarded in a pile nearby as his eyes roved over the shelves that lined the walls of the rounded room, filled not just with books, but with papers and letters and documents... Then he glanced up in surprise as the melodic voice of a saxophone filled the air, and he smiled after a moment as his eyes settled on the gramophone near one large table: Celestia was sitting beside it, gazing down at a paper sleeve as a record spun slowly on the turntable. More instruments joined in on the melody, as Celestia said gently over her shoulder: "I hope you don't mind, but it helps me relax. You're free to go to bed any time you like, too, Antares, you can use my room, since I believe that Prestige is already asleep in the guest room upstairs." "No, it's okay. I don't sleep much... I guess I inherited that from Mom and Dad, huh?" Antares smiled after a moment, striding towards the table to sit down at it. Celestia only nodded as she returned to the furnishing herself, glancing down at a pile of papers in front of her seat, and the young stallion shifted back and forth before he asked finally: "Aunt Tia... I... I'm really worried. I know you told me not to think about this too much already, but..." "I know, Antares, and I'm concerned too. But I'm trying not to let my worries and my fears overwhelm either my common sense or the fact that tonight, we did something good. We stopped whatever this was before it was able to spread any further than it already had." Celestia replied quietly, shaking her head slowly. Then she smiled a little, adding quietly: "Besides, when Twilight returns, she and Aphrodisia and Pinkamena may have been able to track down the source of all this. We'll know once they get back from the hospital. There's no point in worrying about anything until then." Antares nodded slowly after a moment, sighing a little as he looked down and shifted apprehensively again. For a little while, the only sounds were the soft, soulful jazz pouring out of the gramophone, and Celestia shuffling slowly through papers... and then the ivory winged unicorn frowned a bit, looking up and asking curiously: "Did you see any sick Nibelung, Antares?" "I... no, I didn't. Why?" the young stallion asked curiously, tilting his head. But instead of answering, Celestia only put her papers aside and turned to glance quickly over the bookshelves, before her horn glowed and pulled several large texts free. "Aunt Tia?" "We may have a clue to what happened here, Antares. Demons don't get sick, Nibelung don't get sick... if only Discombobulation or Discord were here, their reaction could have told us more." Celestia said musingly, even as she passed a large textbook to Antares. The young stallion took it with a frown, and then Celestia reached down for the book in front of her, opening it as she began: "These are Nibelung history. Look for-" Celestia was cut off as there was a loud pop, staring down at the open book to see a small, chimerical creature that looked as if it was made up of a mishmash of body parts sitting back on it with his legs primly crossed. He smiled wryly up at her, a metallic claw resting on one of his knees as his inverted, white pupils gazed thoughtfully up out of black irises at the Baroness, before he said mildly: "I never really thought you were into pop-up books, Celestia." The ivory winged unicorn only smiled in response, however, and the Draconequus nodded thoughtfully to her before he stood up and hopped off the book to the floor: with another pop, he was no longer tiny, but instead tall and sleek, at least seven feet high from his mismatched feline and giraffe leg to the brush-like black mohawk that stood between the horns pushing up out of his skull: one was long and pointed, like a dragon's, and the other was a curling ram's horn. He reached out with a long, red furred arm, flicking Celestia's horn amiably with his gray-skinned hand, and then he smiled over his shoulder at Antares as the young stallion looked warmly up at him. The red scales that covered his draconic features gleamed, a pleasant contrast to the black scales that covered his almost serpentine body. "You two look like you've been busy. Then again, all of Ponyville was a touch under the weather, wasn't it? It was worse than a case of meningitis showing up at a crowded diving competition, and we didn't even have a subplot to keep things light." "So you were around Ponyville, Discombobulation?" Celestia asked curiously, and the chimerical creature shrugged, absently reaching up to rub slowly at his metallic arm: it was a prosthetic, held tightly on by both an enlarged shoulder cusp as well as a half-harness of rawhide, straps tightly cinched around the male's upper body. Stacked plates of metal laid over magically-charged crystals that reacted to the Draconequus's powers, letting him move it around just like a real arm, and it fed down into a complex claw that was just as dexterous as his real hand had once been. It was a little oversized for his frame... but that in and of itself only matched the chaotic creature all the more. "Why didn't you at least say something about what was going on?" "Oh, because I can do that any old time. Watch, I'll do it right now. Ponies are gross when they're sick." Discombobulation hugged himself, the shark-like fin and transparent, spiky frill paired with it on his back both flexing lightly. "Besides, I had this great routine all planned out, and then you unleashed that massive purification wave. I had to hightail it out of there with Hungry Hungry Hippo and her kid or risk getting myself turned to stone. Already been there, done that for you ponies." Discombobulation reached up and knocked twice on his metallic limb, and Celestia shook her head slowly with a small smile before the Draconequus turned his eyes to Antares, saying mildly: "And you. Stop encouraging Allonym. He's a twisted neurotic and he should be shot. And then fed to alligators. And then those weird birds who sit in the alligator's mouths would eat him too because they'd peck bits of him out of the alligator's teeth." Discombobulation opened his mouth wide, tilting his head back and making awkward chewing motions, and Antares laughed despite himself as Celestia shook her head slowly, then asked quietly: "Do you have any idea what could have caused this plague?" Now the Draconequus became more serious, looking down moodily as he rubbed slowly at his arm and muttered: "Plague? I understand that it may have seemed that way to you, but to me it simply looked like... like the result of bad tuna salad, or that funny-smelling casserole your weird cousin always brings to the family reunion. No, no, I'm not saying at all that's how it got into you ponies... for I cannot think of anyone here who has a cousin that malicious or that strange, not even you, Celestia... but I am saying that this was maybe nothing more than a particularly cruel accident." "I don't like what that implies." Celestia looked down with a bit of a frown, shaking her head slowly before she turned her eyes to Antares, as the young stallion shifted a little. "As I was saying. We need to look for diseases that may have infected the Nibelung in the past. We also-" "That will work about as well as one of Gilligan's plans to get off the island." Discombobulation interrupted, and when Celestia looked at him mildly, he cleared his throat and added seriously: "He was not as smart as he thought he was. Inventive, persevering, but really it's a wonder the Skipper never beat him to death, among other things. Usually you're better than this, Celestia, willy-nilly poking for needles amongst the haystack." "Then what do you suggest?" Celestia asked, and the Draconequus looked meditative, reaching up to rub the underside of his muzzle slowly. "I don't want to simply sit and wait. I know that when Twilight returns, she'll bring more information with her... but all the same, I feel the answer might be somewhere close by." Antares looked up at this, saying slowly: "Close by... whatever caused this might still be close to Ponyville, right? And aren't Rainbow Dash and Soarin' and Avalon all scouting the area still?" "I hope they've had the sense to go home for the night by now. Cowlick and Greece are more likely to track down the source than they are." Celestia replied quietly, shaking her head before she looked over at Discombobulation, who sighed and slumped a little at the look she gave him. He grumbled under his breath for a few moments, but then finally nodded, reaching up to rub at his face as he mumbled: "I should demand overtime for this. Or a bonus. Or a puppy. No, nix the last: I would never be able to take care of it, and it would never fit in my apartment and if it peed all over the furniture I'd end up drowning. Fine, I'll go and take a look around the area and see what I can see, but if I get even the slightest bit sick, I warn you I will become exceedingly miserable and drag you all down into misery with me and will require much coddling and chicken soup." Celestia only smiled, and Discombobulation looked at her moodily for a moment before he reached up and honked her nose, making the ivory winged unicorn blink in surprise before the Draconequus vanished from the spot. Antares laughed, then hurriedly put his hooves over his muzzle... but a moment later, Celestia smiled wider before she laughed herself, and both she and her nephew visibly relaxed. Sonorous, soft jazz continued to roll easily through the room as the two began to study the books in front of them, just in case, but after only a few minutes they were again interrupted when Twilight Sparkle entered the library, with Aphrodisia in tow. The Lich smiled faintly across at Celestia, and the rainbow-maned winged unicorn frowned a bit before she tilted her head, asking quietly: "What's wrong, Twilight?" "I..." Twilight hesitated, then she sighed a little, smiling faintly as she looked slowly around at the library walls. "I remember when I used to live here, before... I moved in with Scrivener and Luna. And now you live here... and now, it feels even more comfortable, more like a true home than it ever did. I'm... glad for that. You fit in here." She fell quiet, Celestia and Antares both studying Twilight with concern still before the Lich shook her head and murmured: "Straw Crown, the coroner... he's dead. All that was left of him was a brittle skeleton. A bunch of bodies had also been... stripped... and the Clockwork Pony's corpse was torn apart. There was... some kind of mossy stuff on the walls here and there, stains and... I don't want to guess at it. They already sent samples of it off to Cowlick's lab, but.. it felt..." Twilight shook her head slowly, reaching up to touch her own chest before she added awkwardly, as Aphrodisia stepped forwards with a small smile: "Antares, why don't you and Aphrodisia head up to the guest room? You two need some rest... and Celestia, honestly, I can take over here. I'll think on things for a while and in the morning we can put everything together." "Mom, I can stay up with you. I'm... sorry about Crown, I know he helped you out a lot with when you needed... parts." Antares blushed a little, awkwardly gesturing at her, but the Lich only smiled a bit and shook her head slowly. "Just hurts to think that he died like that... and whatever this is..." Twilight sighed as she slowly approached the table, glancing over at the gramophone and closing her eyes, letting the music flow over her before she nodded once. "Honestly, Antares. Go get some rest, because I'm going to need your help in the morning." "Go ahead, use my room, Prestige is already in the guest room." Celestia said gently, half to Antares and half to Twilight, and the Lich nodded a little as the young stallion hesitated, but then smiled faintly when Aphrodisia almost bounced forwards and firmly butted her head into him, forcing him up to his hooves. "Sleepover, cousin! Come on, come on, let's go!" Aphrodisia said warmly, and Antares nodded and blushed, barely managing to call out a hurried 'goodnight' as she pushed him through the room and the archway leading into a short corridor, the demon saying brightly: "I don't get to have sleepovers that often... Avalon's no fun because she actually sleeps and Rustproof is too busy half the time. And his Mom is crazy-protective." "Apps..." Antares started, and then he winced when she shoved him firmly through the doorway and into Celestia's bedroom: the bed here was enormous and rounded and neatly made, the centerpiece in a room composed of shelves filled with books and letters and strange odds and ends, several paintings over the walls and Celestia's armor placed aside in a heavy stand that also held a massive golden sword. Aphrodisia shoved him towards the bed, and Antares yelped as he was all but thrown into it before the demon giggled and leapt forwards, bursting apart into dark smoke that twisted downwards under the blankets. Then the demon reformed, sitting up and sticking her head out from under the sheets and a thick comforter as she declared: "Let's tell ghost stories!" Antares couldn't help but smile despite himself, his horn lighting up and casting a soft blue glow through the dark room before he flicked his head to the side, and the open door was gently closed with telekinesis. Aphrodisia smiled brightly at this, and then she scowled when Antares said mildly: "You're a demon, Apps. Somehow, that makes telling ghost stories seem a little silly." "You're silly." Aphrodisia scoffed, then she shook her head vehemently before adding: "Besides, undead and demons are two totally different things. Mommy is a really powerful demon, but Aunt Twilight's undead and she might be even stronger than Mommy. Although I think Mommy could still beat her up if she wanted to." Antares laughed despite himself, gazing warmly over at his cousin: his cousin, showing how emotionally childlike she was in spite of her physical age. "You're so silly, Apps. But... honestly, maybe we should just sleep, too. It sounds like tomorrow's going to be a big day and all and... I got a lot on my mind." "I know, Nova." Aphrodisia softened, then she wiggled her way over to him before tossing the sheets and comforter around the young stallion, making him smile as her foreleg wrapped tightly around his shoulders and she nuzzled him affectionately. "But Daddy always says if you can find a reason to be happy, then you gotta be happy, even if it's the saddest time in your life. Sadness isn't bad but smiling is better." Antares nodded a little, and then he allowed the glow to die out from around his horn, leaving the two in darkness and quiet for a few moments as they rested together. Aphrodisia closed her eyes, dropping her head against his shoulder, and then she gave a small smile as she added softly: "I'm glad we're family, Nova. I'm even more glad we're such good friends." "Me too." Antares said softly, wrapping a forelimb gently around his cousin's shoulders, and he closed his eyes, letting his head rest against hers as they sat together in the darkness. It was comfortable, and Antares smiled a little before he asked finally: "So... how's your whole... demon thing going? You work hard with your Mom on that stuff all the time, right?" Aphrodisia smiled again, and Antares could feel it through the darkness as she pushed her side against his, saying softly: "I do, yeah. Mommy says I'm really lucky and Daddy is always telling me how proud he is of me. I'm not ready for the tougher stuff yet, like possessions, but I'm going to get there, I am. I'm still just trying really hard to 'tame' myself, like Mommy says. If I get too worked up or anything, I go full-demon and it gets really hard for me to control myself." "You're already amazing, Apps. You're just gonna get better." Antares said firmly, and Aphrodisia smiled at him warmly before the two finally drew apart: but it was only so they could lay down, side-by-side, bodies still lightly pressing together as Antares said softly: "Your Mom is still like a big sister to me more than an aunt... you know, she and Dad were best friends." "I know. She talks about him a lot. Our family's all really close and... Mommy says we should all be really thankful for that. That it's pretty rare, especially these days." Aphrodisia said softly, then she shook her head out a bit before reaching up and absently undoing the braided knot that held her locks in place, letting her curtain of hair fall freely around her shoulders. "I'm really thankful for it. And I think it's really fitting that me and you are best friends, just like my Mommy and your Daddy were. And we're always gonna be best friends, right?" Antares nodded, and then he laughed when Aphrodisia grabbed him and shoved him down, pinning him on his back as she smiled down at him through the darkness, saying firmly: "Promise. Promise or I'll spit on you." The demon proceeded to loudly make a horrible sound, and the young stallion laughed again before he shoved his hooves up against her face, saying quickly: "I promise, I promise, Pinkslap! Okay, okay, get off me!" For a moment, the demon only looked thoughtful, slowly opening her mouth and letting her forked tongue roll out... and then she rolled her eyes with a snort when Antares winced away and flailed a bit at her. "Big coward." She slipped off him and smiled, gazing over at him warmly before she leaned over and firmly nipped the side of his neck, making him yelp a bit. "You're smarter than most boys, Nova. But it's still silly that you like Meadowlark so much. She's smelly." Antares only sighed and gave the demon a half-exasperated, half-amused look... but all the same he found himself calming little-by-little, finding happiness even amongst the worries that wanted to plague his mind in these moments of friendship spent with his cousin and closest friend. Category:Transcript Category:Story